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Those Incredible Kidneys: Chronic Renal Disease and Dialysis

The kidneys… superheros in their own right. Why should the brain and heart get all the credit when these mega-filters detoxify the blood, remove excess fluid, produce hormones, regulate pH, and so much more?

And then there’s the patients with chronic kidney disease who can’t reap these benefits and instead, resort to dialysis to keep them alive. This population keeps growing year after year, and EMS needs to understand the pathophysiology behind the condition and appropriate treatments in the field.

This education covers the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease, the abnormalities to suspect, the working end of hemodialysis grafts, fistulas, peritoneal dialysis, and how we can best manage these complex patients in the prehospital setting.

This CE includes one of UMC EMS’ case reviews from 2016. As with any of our case reviews, we start off heavy on the education and then cover a few patient care reports. Your own treatment protocols will probably be different. But, rather than focus on the algorithm itself, consider why certain treatments were used and others avoided during patient care. The quiz avoids protocol-specific questions, and is tailored for all certification levels.

Step 2: Take the Quiz at QuestBase. Log into your QuestBase account at www.questbase.com/a/umcems. If you don’t have a free account yet, please visit our Contact Us page for information on how to obtain one. Once you’ve logged in, look for the CE entitled:”Case Review: Those Incredible Kidneys“.